For anyone that has experience with the farmed North American red fox, you will already know, their lives are difficult and misunderstood.

Few know this species exists and even fewer understand its domestication as farmed stock or its role as an experimental animal model. The first time many may have discovered the farmed fox - and the sheer numbers and conditions they are farmed in - will be through Animal Rights campaigns, which highlight the plight of fur farm animals worldwide.

Fox Village, Japan

Many countries have ceased the raising of animals purely for their fur - a ban which occurred in the UK in 2000. A fur ban also came into force in 2006 in Japan, when the nations fur farmed stock became attractions, instead of becoming pelts. Once such place often highlighted by the AR groups, is the Fox Village in Zao, Japan.

For those that do not understand farmed foxes, such videos can be highly distressing for the viewer. However, the situation is not quite as it is presented. While welfare is not of the highest standards compared to elsewhere in the world, their welfare, on appearance, does appear to be adequate (it could do with improvement). There is no where to rehome an entire countries farm fox stock lineages, the idea is wishful thinking. These attractions spared the remaining fur stock from euthanasia and pelting. And because they are domesticated farm animals that exist in over 70 selectively bred mutations (of mutations), many of which could not exist naturally, they are not wild and cannot be released.

"You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed"

Some of the main concerns raised are:

The smell - Foxes STINK. Period. On top of this naturally pungent aroma wafting from their coats and scent glands, they pee and poop on everything, as a form of communication. Which means, the more you clean, the more they may just put it back. There is no getting away from the smell of foxes and with that many animals sharing a space, it is going to be very, very strong. This is not unexpected and cannot be avoided. I will also add at this point, there is no where else in the world that has successfully kept that many foxes, free-ranging and in relatively good health and welfare (however far from being the best example of good care and welfare).

The fighting and wounds - Foxes are agonistic by nature. They squabble and fight over resting spots, possessions, food or just the change in weather. "Gekkering" is the term given for the screaming and yelling foxes enjoy putting each other (and you) through. They are quite accident prone and often inflict injury on each other (or you - deliberately or just by accident). Capturing and treating an injured fox is no easy feat and often, medicated food may be the best course of action, especially in a small Japanese village with limited veterinary supply routes. In a large group of foxes, injuries and wounds are going to occur. Seeing a wound does not mean it is going unmanaged. And with that many foxes, behaving as wild a a group of captive foxes ever could, the injuries present are similar to what is seen among wild foxes and the foxes - in the wild, they may mutilate limbs, pull off tails or even kill each other. And keepers of pairs or even trios or more, will see fight injuries and wounds, especially over breeding and dispersion seasons. On the whole, the foxes at this attraction appear happy and healthy.

Poor fur - These are fur foxes and foxes moult their super thick winter coats once a year, ready for summer. It means that for 6 months out of 12, silver foxes look really tatty. This is not mange or illness, nor is it a sign of poor welfare. They may be more itchy than usual, to help get the dead fur from their coats. They will appear half the size once it is all blown for summer. Foxes are very lean animals under all that floof, similar to cats. Such a dramatic change from one season to the next can also have people concerned they are underweight or not being fed, but foxes really are slight animals under those coats and this is obvious to all, come summer.

Thousands of Fur Foxes Rescued, China

This was a common headline at one time. Buddhist monks practice fangsheng or mercy releases, in order to obtain good karma and good fortune in this life and the next. They would often garner donations to purchase large numbers of fur farm animals to spare them from slaughter and to release them into the wild. While this may seem honourable on the face of it, such animals are not equipped to live in the wild and quickly perish and the fur farmer do not care if their foxes are sold dead or alive, as long as they are sold. For the remaining few that manage to survive, they impact local ecology as a non native invasive species. As a result, China banned the release of captive animals in 2016, except in designated areas. The thousands of foxes reported as saved by the monks, sadly died.

In 2018, Animal Rights Activists from Plush Bear Rescue, attempted to rescue thousands of fur farm foxes and raccoon dogs, with the intent of providing them suitable housing and not releasing them. They garnered much in donations and paid the fur farmer to take all their remaining stock, building a large enclosure to house the foxes. However impressive, this was not suitable. The rescue was losing time in their battle to locate a vet and veterinary drugs to treat the foxes and to neuter them before breeding season began (there are no vets available to treat foxes in their region and veterinary supplies in the region are limited). Sadly, the foxes got sick and it spread through the population quickly, it was reported to me by the UK rescuers assisting the Chinese rescue that the foxes were humanely euthanised to prevent further suffering.

Sadly, despite all the thousands of foxes publicly saved from Chinese fur farms, none survived.